Formula One champion is the highest paid athlete; tops <i>Forbes</i> list

Formula One champion is the highest paid athlete; tops Forbes list
Associated Press

NEW YORK, MARCH 2: Tiger Woods might be no 1 in golf, but when it comes to money in Sports, he is a runner-up. Formula One driving champion Michael Schumacher heads Forbes Magazine’s list of the highest paid athletes for the year 2000 with $ 59 million in earnings. That was $ 6 million more than Woods, who won three of the four major golf championships last year. Woods made $ 9 million on the PGA tour and, with endorsements, his income for the year reached $ 53 million.

Heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson, who won three fights last year, is third with $ 48 million, almost half of that from a $ 20 million settlement of a conflict-of-interest lawsuit.

He was followed by former Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan at $ 3 million, much of it from his Imax film, which grossed $ 15 million in the United States.Grant Hill, who signed a free agent contract with the Orlando Magic but has missed almost all of the National Basketball Association season because of injury, is fifth at $ 26 million.

Auto racer Dale Earnhardt, killed two weeks ago in the Daytona 500, came in sixth with $ 24.5 million.

Completing the top 10 were Shaquille O’Neal of the Los Angeles Lakers ($ 24 million); boxers Lennox Lewis and Oscar de La Hoya ($ 23 million each); and Kevin Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves ($ 21 million).

The top woman on the list is tennis star Martina Hingis of Switzerland, 22nd with$ 11 million. She was followed by four other women tennis players: Anna Kournikova of Russia and American Venus Williams ($ 10 million each), Serena Williams ($ 7.5 million) and Lindsay Davenport ($ 6 million).